Newsletter

Brownback picks NASA vet for spokeswoman

Gov. Sam Brownback has chosen Eileen Hawley to be his new director of communications and press secretary.

Gov. Sam Brownback has chosen a Lawrence resident and former NASA spokeswoman to be his new director of communications/press secretary.

Brownback announced Wednesday that he had hired Eileen Hawley, a former vice president of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce who led communications and outreach for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston prior to moving to Kansas in 2008.

“Eileen’s experience and passion for excellence will make her a great fit for the administration,” Brownback said. “Lt. Gov. (Jeff) Colyer and I are excited to welcome her to our team.”

Hawley will begin her new job June 24, taking over for Sherriene Jones-Sontag, who has been appointed deputy director of the Kansas Lottery.

“I look forward to joining the administration and supporting the priorities of Brownback and Lt. Gov. Colyer,” Hawley said. “This is an opportunity for me to use my skills and experience to serve the citizens of Kansas, and I am truly honored to have been selected for this position.”

According to a news release from Brownback's office, Hawley earned a bachelor of arts degree in media studies from the University of Houston, Clear Lake, and holds a master’s degree in strategic communication and leadership from Seton Hall University.

She is married to Steve Hawley, a Kansas native who flew five space shuttle missions and logged more than 32 days in space after joining the shuttle program in 1978. He is now a professor of physics and astronomy at The University of Kansas and has been director of its engineering physics program since 2010.

The release states Eileen Hawley was the “voice of Mission Control” for more than 40 space shuttle and space station missions, leading the Johnson Space Center communications efforts following the loss of the shuttle Columbia and subsequent return to flight. As JSC’s director of external relations, she developed and led the center’s media relations, government affairs, education outreach and internal communications programs. She served as an adviser to senior NASA leadership and received NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal in May 2008.